@John I will be finishing the programming tutorials for a while once this snake game is over, to go over stuff like you mention. I need a Pi to do that though so untill then I'll keep it to programming. I'll be doing a whole series set up tutorials including SD card preperation and so on.

With regards to XBMC, I'm not sure wether the plans are to provide an application that you run or a dedecated XBMC distro. Possibly both depending on the use case. If you go for the application version then there is no reason why you couldn't use a browser. Also the Pi will be able to connect to windows networks, as both a client and a server using something called Samba as Jaseman has mentioned above.

I'm an absolute beginner with Linux and thanks to your first tutorial I now have Debian running in Virtual Box. In the course of the installation I did experience one glitch that might be worth noting. At some point I was asked for my full name and password (for the root user?). I entered my name as John Jopp. It then asked for a user name and password and I'm pretty sure that "John" was pre-entered which I accepted. Then later after a reboot, I was asked to login again at which I entered "John" and my password. "Incorrect Password"! I'd written it down so I knew it was correct and no amount of swearing persuaded it otherwise. I was totally stumped for a bit and on the point of giving up when I tried entering my name as "john" with a lowercase "j" and got in. If it is the case that usernames can only be in lowercase then it might be worth annotating the video to that effect.

Usernames can have uppercase letters in them, but I'm pretty sure that the install process would have lowercased your name to john when it set up the user. Linux is case sensitive. You can have a file called Readme and one called readme and one called README all in the same directory and they would all be different. It is similar for users. You can have a user called john and one called John (although some user management programs will prevent it). However by convention usernames are all lowercase on Unix systems.

Nodge said:

Part of the beauty of xbmc is that you can mess with it and download skins and addons Am I right in thinking the Pi won't be up to running both a browser and xbmc?

I don't think there should be a problem running a browser and xbmc. I don't think you will be able to play a video or anything or do anything fancy in xbmc. Anyway I think xbmc deals with downloading addons from repositories itself. You don't have to go to a browser.

Can I share the Pi on my windows network to do this?

If you connect the Pi up to a network cable (or a wifi dongle) then you can either access your shared Windows drive from the Pi, or share directories from the Pi which your windows box will see.

where do you recommend I start with Python though ? any good books or places anyone can recommend ? thank you all.

http://learnpythonthehardway.org/ (don't worry about the name - the website will tell you the hard way is really the easy way). It is available as a real book, or PDF, (both of which cost money) or for free as HTML.

I thought I would have a crack and doing a few python lessons myself (In my own unique style). Rather than YouTube videos I'm just going to use PNG files that you can download and go through at your own pace. I'm also going to include a copy of the code.

I see your tutorials are rolling out nicely! I've only had chance to follow the first few.

One thing which I don't think has been mentioned on the forums is the ability to learn and run python scripts on an Android device [using SL4A and Python for Android (Python 2.6.2)].

I had a go with it last night (following some of your initial tutorials to get me started).

Unfortunately it doesn't support PyGame - as far as I can tell (which I found out after trying Jaseman's tutorial), but I think it has some android specific tie ins. Anyway, might be another way for people to have a go with Python without a pc etc and something they could do on the bus or where-ever.

I've not looked for any specific tutorials for it yet, but it also supports HTML, Javascript, Lua, Perl and also Beanshell & Rhino (not heard of them), so plenty of options to play with.

Out of interest, which of your later tutorials (if any) don't use PyGame so might be usable on SL4A, as I would like to follow what ones I can.

I don't really know one version of Python from another, but it seems like a reasonable language to get to grips with.

I see your tutorials are rolling out nicely! I've only had chance to follow the first few.

One thing which I don't think has been mentioned on the forums is the ability to learn and run python scripts on an Android device [using SL4A and Python for Android (Python 2.6.2)].

I had a go with it last night (following some of your initial tutorials to get me started).

Unfortunately it doesn't support PyGame - as far as I can tell (which I found out after trying Jaseman's tutorial), but I think it has some android specific tie ins. Anyway, might be another way for people to have a go with Python without a pc etc and something they could do on the bus or where-ever.

I've not looked for any specific tutorials for it yet, but it also supports HTML, Javascript, Lua, Perl and also Beanshell & Rhino (not heard of them), so plenty of options to play with.

Out of interest, which of your later tutorials (if any) don't use PyGame so might be usable on SL4A, as I would like to follow what ones I can.

I don't really know one version of Python from another, but it seems like a reasonable language to get to grips with.

I'm fairly certain that they ALL require pygame. Certainly mine do. I don't think I will be supporting your Android device. I hope the Rasberry will support pygame.

I'm fairly certain that they ALL require pygame. Certainly mine do. I don't think I will be supporting your Android device. I hope the Rasberry will support pygame.

Liam Fraser said:

Android limits the tutorials because not everyone has one. Plus most android stuff is done in Java so Android developent would be best done using that.

PyGame will run on the device Jaseman. It's in the debian arm repositories and I've seen people run SDL on the device which is what pygame is a wrapper of. Should be fine

No problem, from what I've seen PyGame is great for the stuff you guys are doing so no worries. I was more asking so I could follow the tut's while messing with it on my phone, will probably do a bit of both.

I'm doing Android development too, but there are some handy python scripts around worth making use of, also for little things a little script is a lot less hassle than creating a app.

Great tutorials so far. I've only watched the first few. When you show virtual box you install debian. Can I install other versions with VB at the same time? Ubuntu? Raspbian? Xbian? And load which ever one I want to mess around with?